Rivals For Your Affections
by ill at ease
Summary: Kurt and Blaine have been dating for a while, but what happens when a rival for Blaine's affections shows up at Dalton one day? Fluff, Angst, Drama, and Klaine. What more could you want?  Ridiculously long one shot


**This story is a theory I started thinking about when I heard that Kurt might have a rival for Blaine's affections. I doubt it will actually happen in the show, so yay for fanfics, yeah? (Also, after seeing the clip of Kurt's apparent rival, I'm pretty sure it won't all go down like this. I've been Jossed.)**

**Hope you all enjoy it. ^.^**

**Oh, and one quick note on Dalton room and board stuff. I decided to give them dining accounts similar to what my university does. Why? Because I didn't want to have to deal with the characters handling cash. Stupid, I know, but there it is. I tried to work an explanation of the ID cards and how they work into several places throughout this fic and they all just sort of ruined the flow. So, I'm taking a cop-out and just explaining them before we start the fic.**

**The student IDs are kind of like a debit card, but the cash on it can only be used in their dining halls and vending machines at Dalton. The more you know! *cue flying star***

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* * *

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Kurt tried to stifle his yawn, failing miserably. Blaine looked down at him and smiled.

"Tired?"

"No." Kurt's denial may have been more plausible if he hadn't let yet another yawn slip out at the end of that word. He couldn't help it. It had been a long day, and now, laying here with his head pooled on Blaine's chest as the older boy's fingers traced delicate patterns across the back of his neck and RENT played softly in the background, he had finally been able to relax.

"Maybe you should head to bed." Blaine moved his fingers from the back of Kurt's neck to brush his bangs lightly out of his eyes.

"I'm fine," Kurt said, snuggling his cheek against Blaine's chest and trying his best to look alert and awake. Truth be told, he really did want to go to sleep. But he also really didn't want to leave his boyfriend's room. Boyfriend. It was so weird thinking of Blaine as his boyfriend. Just over a week ago, they had been nothing more than friends. Finally, Blaine had worked up the courage to ask him out on a date. Even that would have felt just like one of their normal outings as friends, if it hadn't ended with the most wonderful first kiss Kurt could have imagined. Blaine had leaned in, brushing his fingers lightly across Kurt's cheek. Then slowly and gently, he'd pressed his lips to Kurt's. It was the sweetest kiss, and Kurt had to admit, he still got a little weak in the knees when he thought about it.

"Come on," Blaine said, sitting up and hauling Kurt up with him. Kurt whined in protest. He knew he sounded childish, but he didn't care. He didn't want to go. "You know, you'll be thanking me in the morning. Remember, we have a 7:00 Warblers meeting before classes start." Kurt sighed, knowing Blaine was right. He still had to go through his moisturizing routine tonight, and then he'd have to be up by five thirty at the latest if he wanted to be at all presentable for the day.

"Walk me to my room, at least?" Blaine stood up, holding out a hand to help Kurt up.

"It would be my pleasure." Kurt loved it when Blaine got all formal. It was endearing. They walked back to Kurt's room, hand in hand. At the door, Blaine gave him a small kiss on the lips and wished him goodnight.

It was a scene that had played out the exact same way each night for the past week. Sometimes Kurt wondered if something might be wrong. For a couple that had been together for almost two weeks now, they seemed to be moving awfully slow. Those soft goodnight kisses were one of the few intimate moments they'd had. They hadn't even had a real make out session yet. Of course, Kurt reasoned with himself, not every first date had to end with two people sleeping together, no matter what certain New Directions friends had to say about it. Different couples moved at different paces, and it was fine that he and Blaine were taking things slow. Still, he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't want more.

* * *

Blaine checked his watch. He was running incredibly late. He was supposed to be sitting in the Warblers meeting right now, preferably with his arm draped casually across Kurt's shoulders. He wasn't sure what the meeting was about. He'd heard about it through the grape vine, and hadn't had a chance to track down Wes or David to ask about it yet.

Instead, he was waiting impatiently in the hallway outside the principle's office to show some new student around. Mr. Hydell, his Spanish teacher, had caught him on the way to the Warblers meeting and guilt tripped him into helping out. Blaine told Kurt to just go on ahead without him and that he would catch up. He had no idea it would take this long for the student to leave the principal's office, let alone how long the tour was going to take. He'd probably miss the entire meeting, and maybe even the beginning of his first class.

Finally, the door opened, but instead of a new student, it was the secretary, Ms. Pearson, who stepped out, her arms full of papers.

"Blaine, what are you doing here?" she asked, glancing at a clock down the hall. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to head to class?"

"Mr. Hydell said that there was a new student that needed to be shown around." Ms. Pearson just shook her head with an indulgent smile.

"I'm sorry Blaine, Mr. Hydell must not have gotten the whole story. This student has already attended Dalton. He's been away for a few years, but I think he'll still be able to find his way around fine on his own." She patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for nothing. But you best get off to class now. If you'll excuse me, I really do need to get these copies made." She hurried off down the hall, but Blaine stayed right where he was.

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. He'd missed the Warblers meeting for nothing, apparently.

"Well, well, if it isn't Blaine Anderson." Blaine froze at the sound of the familiar voice. It couldn't be. He turned to face the "new student" who had just exited the principal's office.

"Luke? What are you doing back at Dalton? I thought you were supposed to be studying abroad for the rest of the year." Luke shrugged.

"Eh, France got boring. Besides, I missed you." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Of course. That must be the reason." Luke was an army brat. The reason he had spent the last year abroad was because his dad got reassigned. Either Luke was back without his father or his dad had been reassigned again. Blaine's bet was on the former. His mom always did hate being away from the states. Still, the fact that he was trying to claim that Blaine was the reason for his return, even if it was just a joke, irked him. "Do I need to remind you yet again that you broke up with me?" Luke placed a hand across his heart and plastered a pout to his face that Blaine had once found cute, but now found irritating.

"I've seen the error of my ways."

"Yeah, well unfortunately for you, so have I. Besides, I'm seeing someone else." He mentally kicked himself for adding that last part. His personal life was none of Luke's business.

"You're always seeing someone else. It never stopped us before." Blaine shook his head.

"This is different. Besides, I'm different. A lot has changed since you left." Luke stepped in closer, reaching a hand out to toy with Blaine's tie.

"Some things never change." He tried to pull Blaine in closer, but he resisted, pulling his tie from Luke's grasp and stepping back.

"And some things do. I'll see you around, Luke." Blaine strode down the hallway, trying to stay calm. This was just his luck. Finally, things were going great for him, and then _he_ had to show up. Blaine checked his watch. He could probably still make it to the end of the Warblers meeting, but suddenly, even that didn't seem so appealing to him.

* * *

"So I ran into Blaine this morning," Luke said casually, flipping through his French book with little enthusiasm. After being immersed in the language for a year, he felt ridiculous taking this class, but it was the only thing that would fit into his schedule. "He's looking good." Charlie and Drew exchanged knowing looks. If there was one thing they always counted on, it was Luke thinking that Blaine "looked good."

"Don't tell me you're going after him again," Charlie said, shaking his head, but keeping his voice low. They were supposed to be practicing their French in small groups. Luke shrugged.

"Why not? Unless Dalton finally got that bowling alley we petitioned for last year, Blaine is probably still the most interesting thing to do around here." He wiggled his eyebrows at the innuendo, eliciting a laugh from his friends. They looked back down at their French books, but Luke wasn't quite ready to let go of this conversation.

"I hear he has a new boyfriend," he said, leaning closer to his friends and keeping his voice low. "Any idea who that might be?" Charlie and Drew's eyes darted between each other with a quick look that said, quite clearly, that they knew exactly who the boyfriend was. Drew looked the most uncomfortable, which Luke reasoned, probably meant that he was the one who knew the most. He leveled a steady gaze at his friend, waiting for him to spill the news.

"He's a new transfer," Drew said hesitantly. "He's a counter tenor in the Warblers now, but I think Blaine knew him before that." Drew had always been uneasy with Luke's knack for hooking up with people who were already in relationships, but as far as Luke was concerned, if the guy is cheating on his significant other, the relationship wasn't really going to last anyway. Besides, all was fair in love and war, right?

Charlie and Drew turned back to their assignment and Luke let the conversation drift back to French, but his mind stayed firmly fixed on a certain counter tenor.

* * *

"Why the sour look?" Blaine looked up at the sound of David's voice. He and Wes sat down at his table, leaving the chair to his left where Kurt usually sat vacant. Blaine sighed and dropped his fork onto the plate of barely touched food before him.

"I've just had a rough morning." That was putting things lightly. First he missed the Warblers meeting for no reason. Then he found out that his ex-boyfriend, the guy he probably despised more than anyone else in the world, was back at Dalton. Next, he got a text from Kurt saying that he wouldn't be meeting him for lunch today because his dad decided to stop by and take him out. To top it all off, he had completely forgotten about the report he had due in his English class. His teacher had given him a small extension, but he only had until six o'clock that evening to turn it in, which meant he would have to miss that evening's Warblers practice. He glanced up at his friends in time to see them share a nervous look.

"What?"

"Well," Wes started out cautiously, "I don't want to add to your bad day, but it will probably be worse if you don't hear it from us now."

"We wanted to tell you before the meeting," David cut in, "but Kurt said you were held up by Mr. Hydell." Blaine was getting a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly where this was going. David and Wes glanced at each other again, almost as if they were silently trying to decide who would have to spill the news. Finally, David spoke again.

"Luke is back at Dalton, and… well, the council decided to let him rejoin the Warblers." Blaine closed his eyes, taking a slow breath to clam himself down.

"Of course they did." There was a little more anger in Blaine's voice than he had intended. He knew that it was the right decision for the Warblers to make. After all, Luke did have an amazing voice. That was one of the first things that had attracted Blaine to him. Still, two of the three council members were his best friends. They knew exactly how much this guy had screwed with Blaine's head, and he sort of wished they had said to hell with the Warblers and sided with him. But that was selfish, and Blaine knew better. He forced his voice into a more neutral tone. "Thank you for telling me."

"You don't seem very surprised," Wes said, tentatively, as if he was worried that one wrong word would make Blaine explode. To his credit, he was probably right. Blaine had been bottling this stuff up all day. He supposed now would be the time to get it all off his chest.

He recounted his story about running into Luke that morning, trying to keep his voice steady. He kept most of the details to himself, but mentioned that Luke seemed to expect that things between them would automatically go back to how they were before he left. Wes and David listened intently, frowning and offering sympathetic nods at all the right places, but he could tell that they really didn't get it. Neither of them had had been in a bad relationship, just ones that didn't really work out. Still, it helped to talk about it, whether the people he talked to really understood or not.

* * *

Kurt would never admit it to anyone, but he was starting to feel a bit like the clingy boyfriend. He hadn't seen Blaine since that morning. Before practice that afternoon, he received a text saying that Blaine was working on a paper and therefore wouldn't be able to make it. It hadn't even been ten hours, and already he was missing him. Right now, he was sitting in the Warblers practice room, chatting cordially with a boy named Chris. Kurt hadn't made a lot of close friends since he'd arrived at Dalton. Mostly, he just hung out with Blaine, David, and Wes. Still, the other boys at the school were, for the most part, very friendly and easy to talk to. At the moment, he and Chris were busy chatting about the same subject as most of the other Warblers: the newest addition.

In the meeting that morning, the council had announced that a boy named Luke Slater would be joining the Warblers today. Or rather, he would be re-joining them. Apparently he had been studying abroad for over a year. Most of the younger Warblers had never met Luke, and most of the older ones were polite enough not to share any juicy gossip about him. Kurt found it all rather frustrating.

"— and he said that Luke used to get most of the solos, before he left anyway. I guess he was kind of like Blaine is now," Chris said, relating the latest piece of information he had been able to work out of one of the upperclassmen that afternoon. Kurt frowned at that piece of information. It was hard enough already to get solos as a Warbler. Having someone as talented or more talented than Blaine join the group was going to make it even that much more difficult.

Three quick bangs sounded from the front of the room, where the council was sitting behind their desk. "This meeting is called to order," Wes said, setting down his gavel. "First of all, we would like to introduce you all to a returning member, Luke Slater." He gestured to a Warbler who pulled open the same double doors that Kurt had entered through on his first day.

A tall boy with messy brown hair stepped into the room. He was quite handsome and gave off a sort of "bad boy" vibe. He had a haughty air about him, as if he thought he owned the whole room, but didn't particularly care. Kurt wasn't sure whether to be intrigued or annoyed by him.

"In honor of your return, Luke," Wes continued, "We would like to offer you a piece in a performance we will be presenting for the school on Friday." Kurt couldn't help but notice how formal Wes was being. Of course, Wes was formal with everyone, but he seemed a bit more removed than usual while he was speaking to Luke.

"Thank you," Luke said, looking around the room coolly. "However, I would hate to take the opportunity for a performance piece from any of the guys here. Perhaps I could do a duet instead?" The council members leaned together, speaking quietly among themselves. After a minute or so, they straightened back up and Wes said, "That would be acceptable."

"Excellent. I have just the piece, but I'm afraid it won't be in many of the Warblers' vocal ranges. Luckily, I hear that we have gained a wonderful counter tenor since I left." His eyes swept the room, pausing on a few of the boys, as if trying to pick out who it might be. Kurt straightened in his seat, eager for the possibility of a performance piece.

"We have," David said, but he seemed hesitant and didn't say any more. Kurt waited for a moment, hoping one of the council members would point him out, but when none made a move to do so, Kurt decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood up, clearing his throat as he did so to draw Luke's attention.

"I believe I am the one you've heard about." Luke seemed almost surprised for a moment, but he quickly threw a good-natured smile onto his face.

"I believe you are. So what do you say? Are you up to a duet?"

"That depends," Kurt said with a smirk. "What song did you have in mind?"

* * *

"You got a duet? Kurt, that's awesome! What song is it?"

"Tango: Maureen, from RENT!" Blaine smiled. He knew that was one of Kurt's favorite songs from that show. When the two of them had gone to the local performance, he hummed it under his breath the whole way home without even realizing it.

"That's great. Who is it with?"

"It's actually with this new guy who just joined. Or, I guess, he's not really new. He used to be in the Warblers, but he's been studying abroad for the first part of this year…" Kurt trailed off as he saw his boyfriend's shoulders tense up.

"Not Luke Slater?"

"Yeah. That's him. Did you know him when he was here before?"

"Sort of. We, um, we kind of dated." Kurt blinked. Did he hear that right?

"What?"

"It was just for a few months," Blaine said quickly.

"Oh. Was it serious?" Blaine hesitated and Kurt felt as if his heart skipped a beat, anxiously awaiting his answer.

"No. I mean, I thought it was at the time, but looking back… I realized that I was the only one really putting any effort into having an actual relationship." Blaine scratched the back of his neck, absentmindedly. He was trying to seem casual, but Kurt could tell that this subject was anything but casual for him. "When I finally realized that… well, things didn't exactly end well."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It really changed how I looked at things, and it was hard, but it helped me grow for the better. And to be honest, without that disaster of a relationship, I'd probably still be looking for the courage to ask you out." Kurt smiled at the reminder that no matter what was in Blaine's past, he was with Kurt now.

"Well considering how hard I had to throw myself at you to get you to ask me out, I guess I should probably be thanking him." Blaine tossed a pillow at his chest, and Kurt just laughed.

"Well," Blaine said, getting to his feet. "If you're going to do that song, you're going to need to learn how to tango."

"Wait, you're not telling me you actually know how to tango, are you?"

"Of course. Ballroom dancing is mandatory for all freshmen at Dalton. The faculty can't have us making complete fools out of ourselves when we throw dances with the lovely ladies of Linden." Kurt snorted.

"Blaine, I've seen how the guys here dance with the lovely ladies of Linden. It's not ballroom dancing, and they definitely do make complete fools out of themselves." Blaine shrugged.

"Ok, so the class is just a silly tradition that no one has bothered to get rid of. Do you want to learn to tango or not?"

Kurt smiled and hopped off of the bed. He actually already knew how to tango, but he wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to dance with his boyfriend. Blaine took one of Kurt's hands in his and placed the other on his waist. "I assume you'll be playing the part of Joanne?"

"What? You just assume I'll be playing the role of the woman?" Kurt asked with a smile.

"You're right, assume wasn't the right word. How about this? I hope you'll be playing the part of Joanne. Please don't tell me we're going to have to sit through Luke trying to hit those notes." Kurt laughed.

"Well then perhaps I can talk him into playing the role of Mark. But he's going to be disappointed, you know."

"Alright, no more distractions, or you're never going to learn to tango."

* * *

As it turned out, Kurt was not quite as good at tangoing with Blaine as he thought he would be. He suspected that it was in large part because the dance had been interrupted so many times by jokes and sarcastic comments, most of them from Kurt. He was trying to be a good student, he really was, but the thought of dancing the tango with Blaine was a bit too much. Not to mention the fact that the physical contact with some of those moves was more than Kurt and Blaine had ever shared. He really hoped he wouldn't be expected to do all that with Luke.

After an hour, the lesson had turned into nothing more than a fit of laughter, and they'd given up on tangoing for the night. Now, they were sitting snugly on Blaine's bed, close enough for their legs to touch, and watching Aladin. It was one of Blaine's favorite movies. They were holding hands, their fingers laced together, and Blaine was tracing lazy swirls across the inside of Kurt's forearm with his other hand.

Kurt sighed in contentment, sliding himself a bit lower on the bed so that he could comfortably rest his head on the shorter boy's shoulder. He felt Blaine place a soft kiss on the top of his head. After a few minutes, Blaine's hand that had been tracing patterns against Kurt's arm slowed and stopped. Disappointed, Kurt looked up at his boyfriend, fully prepared to give his best doe-eyed expression to get Blaine's hand back. He stopped himself when he saw the far away look in those hazel eyes. Blaine was staring at the TV, but Kurt could tell his mind was miles away. He straightened up a bit, the movement catching Blaine's attention.

"Is something wrong?" Kurt asked.

"I was just thinking…" Blaine trailed off.

"Really? Because that's such an unusual past time for you," Kurt replied sarcastically. Blaine gave a brief smile and playfully nudged him away with his shoulder before the serious expression returned to his face.

"I was wondering… Would it be ok if I came to your rehearsals?" Now Blaine had his attention.

"Why would you want to do that?" Kurt knew Blaine was starting to get behind on his homework. In fact, Kurt was pretty sure that he may have been a big contributing factor in that. He was confused as to why Blaine would want to sit in on rehearsals, listening to the same song over and over again when he really had much more important things to do.

Blaine didn't answer immediately, instead looking down at their still joined hands and tracing the fingers of his other hand along Kurt's.

"At the risk of sounding like a jealous boyfriend, I just…" He sighed, "You know what, never mind. Forget I said anything. Just promise me you wont let anything he says get to you."

"What might he say that would get to me?" Blaine shrugged.

"I don't know, but he has a habit of treating people like playthings. He sometimes forgets that they actually have feelings." Blaine still wasn't looking Kurt in the eye, and he got the feeling he was holding something back.

"Is this about why you guys broke up?" Blaine nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Blaine said, a little to quickly. "No, I just…" Finally, Blaine looked up at him, but he his face was now pulled into a mask of cheeriness. "Just promise me we'll still hang out at night when you're done practicing."

"Of course." Kurt wanted to ask about what had happened between Kurt and Luke that was so bad, but Blaine was clearly done talking about it. Instead, Kurt leaned towards his boyfriend and placed a delicate kiss on his lips. Blaine kissed him back softly, then pulled away, finally letting go of Kurt's hand.

"As for the rest of tonight, you should probably head back to your room. You've got a history paper to finish for class tomorrow, right?"

"No." Blaine raised an eyebrow. Kurt let out a soft huff of air, knowing he'd been caught. "Yes. Can't I stay for a little while longer?"

"Fine. Ten minutes. But I will not let my bad influence be responsible for you getting bad grades," he said with just enough mock pretentiousness to earn him a light punch to the arm. Kurt settled back onto the bed, leaning once again against his boyfriend. Blaine brought his arm up to drape casually over Kurt's shoulders and he had to force himself not to sigh out of happiness. Ten more minutes. He'd take it.

* * *

"I don't suppose you'd like to explain to me why my boyfriend is singing a duet with my ex in the performance this Friday," Blaine asked, sidling up next to Wes and David in the lunch line. He was pleased to note that the two boys at least had the decency to look mildly ashamed with themselves.

"Look, Blaine, the council decided to give Luke his own piece to do. Face it. He was our best singer for years. He was the one who decided he wanted to do it with Kurt." Blaine scoffed at David's defense.

"And of course there was nothing you two could do about it." The three of them had made it up to the counter, and Blaine started loading his tray, not really paying much attention to what he was getting.

"What do you think we should have done? Go up to Kurt and say, 'Hey, you might not want to do a duet with the guy your boyfriend was banging'?" Blaine shot him a look that said very clearly that he was not amused. He grabbed a salad, swiped his student ID at the register, and headed towards their usual table. He saw Kurt sitting there and tried to arrange his face into a friendlier expression. When Kurt saw him approaching, he smiled. One look at that bright and happy face, and Blaine's own happy face ceased to be an act.

* * *

Blaine and Kurt walked down the hall together, Kurt's hand held snugly in Blaine's. When they got to the Warbler's practice room, Luke was already there. Blaine didn't give him a second glance. He placed a small kiss on Kurt's cheek and said softly, "See you tonight." Kurt smiled, giving Blaine's hand a quick squeeze. He watched Blaine walk away for a moment, then turned back to Luke, who had a look in his eyes that Kurt couldn't quite decipher.

"So, you're the new boyfriend."

"So, you're the ex-boyfriend." Luke flinched, and Kurt felt a little bad for the jibe, but he wanted to be clear. Blaine was his, and nobody was taking him away from Kurt.

"Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not," Luke said, seeming to recover quickly. "Blaine and I have always had an on and off sort of thing."

"What do you mean? He told me you just dated for a few months."

"Four, actually. We broke up, but even after that, we had our moments." A small smirk was playing at the edges of Luke's lips. He was clearly enjoying his taunting little comments.

"Whatever. We should really practice."

The next two days of rehearsals were shockingly similar to that first one. Blaine would drop him off, each time giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Luke would make some snide or condescending remark about Kurt and Blaine's relationship once Blaine was out of earshot. ("Funny, pretty boys were never his type." "You two are like a walking cliché." "I swear, if we weren't required to wear uniforms, you two would be in matching sweaters.") Kurt would come up with an appropriately catty response, and then they would move on to practicing. By the end of the week, Kurt was thoroughly fed up with Luke. Of course, he didn't mention that to Blaine.

True to his promise, Kurt went to see Blaine each night after rehearsals. Blaine was always curious about how things had gone, so Kurt usually spent the first five minutes relaying exactly how each practice went. He knew Blaine was worried about him spending time with Luke and he didn't want to make that worrying any worse, so he always left out Luke's ridiculous comments, instead focusing on his joy at being able to hit certain notes in the performance and his assurances that, as uncoordinated as he always claimed to be, Blaine was a much better dancer than Luke. Blaine didn't have to know about anything else. After all, Kurt only had to put up with Luke for a few days. Then he would be free to avoid any and every opportunity for a solo with that boy again.

* * *

"Good luck," Blaine said, pulling Kurt's hand up and giving his knuckles a light kiss. Kurt smiled at the gesture. He was always such a gentleman. Blaine gave a quick nod to Luke as well, but Kurt suspected that was more to be polite than because he actually wished Luke any sort of luck. He hadn't missed the look in Blaine's eye when they'd talked about Luke before. He didn't like him, and to be honest, Kurt wasn't particularly surprised. After spending just a week with the boy, he wasn't the biggest fan either.

Kurt watched Blaine exit the side door, heading around the auditorium to sit with the rest of the Warblers.

"How long did you say you guys have been dating?" Kurt looked over his shoulder at the sound of Luke's incredulous voice, feeling that all to familiar irritation creep back into his mind.

"About two weeks, not that it's any of your business," Kurt huffed, turning his back on him again.

"Seriously? Two weeks? Please tell me you're getting more action than that behind closed doors." Kurt shot him a glare, but said nothing. He and Blaine were taking it slow. There was nothing wrong with that. Luke seemed to take Kurt's silence as a confirmation, and he let out a low whistle. "Damn, and I though he was being a prude when it took me a whole week to get into his pants."

Kurt froze. Luke did not just say what he thought he said. One week? Kurt tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat. He had always known Blaine had dated before him, but he had never let himself think about exactly how far those relationships had gone.

"You slept with him?" Kurt was horrified to hear the words leave his mouth in a soft whisper. He wished he hadn't said anything. He wished he had just let Luke's remark slide away, because he didn't want to know. He really didn't. He hoped, for a moment, that Luke wouldn't say anything, but by now he knew that the suave upper classman really had no understanding of the phrase "don't kiss and tell."

"Eventually," Luke said, sounding amused, "But you know there's a whole lot more you can do before sleeping with someone, and he was never shy about doing any of it."

Kurt closed his eyes. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to be having this conversation. How could Blaine have gone so far with Luke in just a week, when he was barely giving Kurt anything more than a light kiss after twice as long?

Thankfully, the lights in the audience dimmed, which was Kurt and Luke's cue to take their places. The last thing he felt like doing right now was singing. No, actually, that wasn't true. The last thing he felt like doing was standing around, continuing this conversation, and he was willing to do anything else as long as it would get him out of it. He only wished that something else didn't have to be singing with the boy he now couldn't stop picturing kissing his boyfriend.

The music started, and Kurt began to sing.

"The samples won't delay but the cable-"

"There's another way  
Say something...anything"

"Test one, two, three"

"Anything but that."

Kurt thought Luke sounded just a bit too haughty with that line. Sure, it was a performance, but it felt like he was trying to rub Kurt's inexperience in his face, reminding him either intentionally or not of their conversation only a moment before.

"This is weird"

"It's weird"

"Very weird"

"Fucking weird"

"I'm so mad that I don't know what to do.  
Fighting with microphones  
Freezing down to my bones  
And to top it all off I'm with you."

Kurt poured his frustration with Luke into his voice, playing up the part in a way that mirrored his true feelings with the boy. He was pissed at Luke for telling him about how far he'd gone with Blaine, but he was also hurt by the fact that Blaine was acting so different with him. Didn't he want him? Lord knows Kurt wanted Blaine.

"Feel like going insane  
Got a fire in your brain  
And you're thinking of drinking gasoline"

"As a matter of fact"

"Honey, I know this act  
It's called the tango Maureen.  
The tango Maureen  
It's a dark dizzy merry-go-round  
As she keeps you dangling."

Was Blaine keeping him dangling? Did he even want to be with Kurt?

"You're wrong"

"Your heart she is mangling"

"It's different with me"

It was different, certainly, but was that good? Why was Blaine holding back with him?

"And you toss and you turn  
Cause her cold eyes can burn  
And you yearn and you churn and rebound"

"I think I know what you mean."

"The tango Maureen." As they sang that line together, Kurt could have sworn he saw a victorious look flash across Luke's eyes, but he quickly dismissed it. He was just acting the part.

"Has she ever pouted her lips and called you pookie?"

"Never."

"Have you ever doubted a kiss or two?"

"This is spooky."

He'd never doubted Blaine before, never doubted their relationship or any of the chaste but earnest kisses he gave him. But now, for some reason, with one little conversation as a catalyst, he felt that doubt invading everything.

"Did you swoon when she walked in the door?"

"Every time, so be cautious"

"Did she moon over other boys?"

"More than moon"

Luke's words from earlier came flooding back to him. _You know there's a whole lot more you can do before sleeping with someone, and he was never shy about it._

"I'm getting nauseous"

Luke took his hands, leading him in the tango. All Kurt wanted to do right now was get as far away from Luke as possible, but the show must go on. Other dancers emerged from the wings. The boys were all members of Dalton's ballroom dancing club, and the girls were from a similar club at Dalton's sister school, Linden Academy. Kurt had met some of the boys and had come to the conclusion that most of them didn't actually enjoy ballroom dancing, but thought it was a great way to meet girls. He supposed that, at an all boys school, they needed all the help they could get in that department.

The ballroom dancers had been invited in for a specific purpose: to keep people from watching Kurt and Luke. Despite all Blaine's help and all the experience Luke claimed to have gained while studying abroad, they still weren't very good at the tango. Luke led them to the back of the group, and they continued dancing.

Luke leaned in closer, and Kurt stiffened, unsure of what the boy across from him was doing, but he was only trying to bring himself close enough for Kurt to hear him whisper, "I'm sorry if what I said earlier upset you." Luke sounded apologetic, but Kurt had a hard time believing he was sincere. You don't just let it slip that you slept with someone else's boyfriend.

"But maybe it's for the best," he continued. Kurt tried to block him out and just dance, but Luke was practically whispering in his ear now. "Blaine goes through a lot of boyfriends. I think he just likes the chase. You know, the challenge of winning a guy over. He hasn't gone after anyone he really likes since we dated. Most of them only last a few weeks anyway before he dumps them. I just don't want you to be caught off guard." Kurt shoved himself away from Luke, and as they parted, so did the rest of the dancers on the floor, bringing the two singers back into the spotlight. Kurt had almost forgotten they were in the middle of a performance.

"She cheated," he sang, eyes searching the audience for Blaine, but before he'd spotted him, Luke pulled him back into the dance.

"She cheated"

"Maureen cheated"

"Fucking cheated"

"I'm defeated, I should give up right now"

Kurt continued to search for Blaine every time he faced the audience, and he finally found him. His brow was furrowed, and he looked a bit confused.

"Gotta look on the bright side with all of your might"

"I'd fall for her still anyhow."

Kurt couldn't take it. The doubt that he'd started to feel coiling in his stomach earlier was now raging through him. Was Blaine planning to break up with him? Was that why he hadn't taken things any further? He just didn't care? He'd lost interest?

"When you're dancing her dance  
You don't stand a chance  
Her grip on romance makes you fall"

"So you think might as well"

"Dance the tango to hell."

"At least I'll have tangoed at all"

"The tango maureen  
Gotta dance till your diva is through  
You pretend to believe her  
Cause in the end you can't leave her  
But the end it will come  
Still you have to play dumb  
Till you're glum, and you bum and turn blue"

"Why do we love when she's mean?"

"And she can be so obscene"

"My Maureen"

"The Tango Maureen"

As they held the last note, Kurt found himself looking once again at Blaine. His eyebrows were now drawn together in a look of concern. That was the last thing he saw before the lights went out.

* * *

Kurt stood in the common room, trying to graciously accept the praise and compliments his fellow Warblers were giving him, but all he wanted to do was escape back to his room. His mind was racing, and he just needed some time to think about everything that had happened that night.

He felt a hand slip around his and turned to see Blaine smiling at him. He leaned in and gave Kurt a quick peck on the cheek.

"You were fantastic," he said, squeezing his hand. Kurt squeezed back and tried to smile, but he couldn't get Luke's words out of his head. _Blaine goes through a lot of boyfriends. He just likes the chase. He hasn't gone after anyone he really likes since we dated. Most of them only last a few weeks._ He pulled his hand out of Blaine's.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He offered a small smile to the other Warblers, but wouldn't let himself look back at Blaine. He could already feel the pressure building behind his eyes, and he was sure that if he looked at Blaine's face, he wouldn't be able to hold back the tears any longer.

Kurt had almost made it to his room, when he heard Blaine's voice behind him.

"Kurt! Hey, wait up." Kurt kept walking, speeding up a bit and trying to ignore Blaine. He was at his door when his boyfriend caught up with him.

"Kurt," he put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, spinning him around to face him. "What happened? What's wrong?" Kurt still didn't look at him, keeping his gaze instead locked firmly on his door.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired. I want to go to sleep."

"Don't lie to me, Kurt." Kurt's eyes flashed at this, finally turning on Blaine.

"Why not? It's not like you're all that honest with me." The pressure was still there behind his eyes, but the tears were held back by his sudden anger with Blaine. What right did he have to treat Kurt like this? To just string him along and then toss him aside? What was his problem?

"What do you mean? I'm always honest with you." He looked genuinely confused, but Kurt pressed on anyway.

"You don't tell outright lies, but you never volunteer anything about your past either. I swear, it's like pulling teeth."

"What do you want to know?" Blaine sounded suspicious, but he was still keeping calm, which was more than Kurt could say for himself. His chest was heaving with emotion, and he crossed his arms in an attempt to control his breathing better.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" Kurt hadn't planned to have this discussion with Blaine. At least, not tonight. He knew Luke had been trying to rile him up, but that didn't mean he had been lying. Kurt had to know.

"Why do you want to know that?" Blaine looked even more confused by this turn of events.

"Just answer the question," Kurt practically shouted. Blaine stared at him for a moment, looking thoroughly thrown off by Kurt's outburst.

"Eight," he finally said. Kurt laughed. It wasn't funny, not in the least, but he just didn't know what to do. His anger from before seemed to evaporate with Blaine's confession, leaving only sadness behind. Luke had been right. Despite all the rumors about the school, there were not a lot of gay people there, so for Blaine to have found and dated eight guys…

"Six." Kurt shook his head. "I have a hard time even finding one person who's gay, and you've dated six." He took his key from his pocket and unlocked his door. "Goodnight Blaine."

"Kurt, wait!" He grabbed Kurt's arm, holding him in place, "Please, tell me what happened tonight."

"Nothing happened," Kurt said, not meeting his eyes. "I just don't want to be another one of your conquests. Maybe next time you should look for someone you're actually attracted to." He pulled his arm out of Blaine's grasp and quickly entered his room and shut the door behind him. Leaning against it, he let his knees buckle and he slid down to the floor. Then, finally, he allowed himself to cry.

* * *

Blaine stared at the Kurt's door, unsure of what he was supposed to do now. He could hear Kurt's soft sobs through the thin wood, and he wanted nothing more than to hold him and somehow make things OK again. But he couldn't do that because apparently he was the problem. Blaine just couldn't figure out what it was that he had done.

There was only one thing he was certain of. Only a handful of boys at Dalton could have told Kurt about Blaine's old reputation. Only three of his ex-boyfriends actually attended Dalton and one of them had been out of the country for almost a year. That particular boy had also been spending a lot of time with Kurt as of late.

Blaine's hands balled into fists just thinking about it. He'd known something was going on between Luke and Kurt all week. Even though Kurt wouldn't admit to it, he was always a bit more agitated after his rehearsals. Blaine had figured that was a result of Luke being his normal, irritating self, and had tried to help Kurt relax afterwards. Even during their performance, Blaine had felt like there was something wrong. He'd just chucked it up to Kurt being a great actor, but maybe that wasn't the case.

He marched down to the room the Warblers had gathered in after the performance, hoping Luke would be there. He wasn't sure what room was his, and he wasn't willing to wait a day to confront him about this.

Sure enough, Luke was still there, talking and laughing with Drew, one of the few Warblers Luke could actually claim as a genuine friend. Blaine tried to keep himself calm as he approached them, forcing his fists to unclench.

"Luke, can I speak to you for a moment." Blaine was thankful to hear that his voice at least sounded calm. "In private," he added, glancing at the boys sitting near by.

"Sure," Luke said, climbing to his feet with a cocky smile on his face. "Don't wait up for me," he said softly over his shoulder. Blaine's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but he didn't say anything. He just led the way down the hall to an empty study hall, flicking the light on one of the many lamps that served as the only lighting fixtures in that room.

"Couldn't wait to get me alone, I see," Luke said, leaning up against the doorframe with that same smug look he'd worn earlier. "The lighting is a nice touch. Romantic." Ignoring his comments yet again, Blaine gestured for Luke to take a seat.

"You can drop the gentlemen's act," Luke said, moving further into the room, but not sitting down. "It doesn't suit you."

"You've been gone for over a year. You have no idea what suits me anymore."

"I can think of a few things I'm sure still suit you." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. Blaine let out a frustrated huff, turning his head away. Luke was always like this. Everything was a joke and everything was about sex.

"What did you say to Kurt tonight?" Blaine said, turning back to Luke. He wasn't there to play games. He wanted answers and then he wanted to be as far away from Luke as he could get.

"The truth." Luke shrugged, plastering an innocent look across his face. Blaine wasn't fooled. He continued to stare down Luke until the innocent look gave way to a more devious smirk. "I just told him about how you never could get over me, dating other guys to try, but always coming back. It was only fair. You really shouldn't lead the poor boy on."

"I'm not leading anyone on."

"That's clearly not what he thinks. Otherwise, you'd be with him right now, not me." That explained it. That was why Kurt was acting so weird right now. Blaine had no idea how he was going to fix this, but at least now he knew where to start.

"Did you say anything else to him?" Luke shrugged, sidling closer to Blaine.

"I may have mentioned how _well_ you and I went together." The way he said it made it very clear exactly what Luke thought it meant to go "well" with someone.

"We didn't go well together, Luke. Our relationship was a childish crush taken too far. It didn't work because you pushed me and manipulated me, and being the stupid kid I was, it took me far to long to realize that and get out."

"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy it. You can still remember it, can't you? I know I can. I can still picture your face, still hear those little noises you made." Luke reached out a hand to cup the other boy's cheek, but Blaine grabbed his wrist before he could touch him.

"Don't."

"You don't mean that." Luke said, his voice sounding husky and a little desperate. He leaned in to kiss him, but Blaine shoved him back. Luke looked startled, as if he really did believe that an act like this was going to bring Blaine running back into his arms.

"I said 'Don't.' We're over, Luke. Nothing is ever going to happen between us again."

"You don't mean that," Luke said again, but this time his voice was firmer, commanding, not asking.

"Yes, I do. Our relationship was never about me, or even about us. It was always about you. You never cared about me, only what you could get from me. And I know you don't see it that way, but it's the truth. You were my first boyfriend. Our relationship should have been this wonderful thing, but it just left me feeling used. Why the hell would I ever go back to that?"

"It wasn't all bad," Luke said with a smirk, and Blaine was sure he was remembering some of the wilder nights towards the end of their relationship. Blaine turned his head to the side, biting back a snide retort and trying to calm himself down. Luke was being absolutely impossible.

"You don't get it, Luke. The only thing I regret doing since coming to Dalton is you."

Blaine knew it was harsh, but Luke was not one to easily take no for an answer, and he needed the boy to understand this. Judging by the hurt expression on his face, the point had finally sunk in. "You need to stay away from me, and you need stay away from Kurt." His voice was soft and low, almost dangerous. "I care about him more than anyone else I've ever met, and I'm not going to let you come between us."

Blaine stood there for a few more seconds, waiting for some sign of understanding from the other boy. Luke nodded, looking down at his feet, but remained silent. That was good enough for Blaine. Without another word, Blaine turned and left the room, his mind already racing, trying to figure out how he was going to patch things up with Kurt.

* * *

Kurt was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and definitely _not_ thinking about Blaine. At least, that's what he was attempting to do. After last night's fight, he had been trying very hard to get Blaine off his mind. He went to breakfast that morning at an ungodly hour and grabbed extra fruit and cereal to bring back to his room so that he wouldn't have to risk running into Blaine at lunch. He tried listening to music, but he and Blaine had spent so much time listening to his iPod and singing along, that every song reminded him of Blaine's voice. He tried watching movies, but all he could think about was how nice it had been to curl up with Blaine to watch TV. Finally, he decided on homework, because that couldn't possibly remind him of Blaine. And it didn't. But it was so boring that he had been unable to concentrate and his mind had slipped right back to the one place it didn't want to be. Blaine.

Frustrated with himself and his inability to shake the "pining ex" role, Kurt decided to take a nap. Instead, he was lying there, eyes wide open, and trying his hardest to clear his mind of the one thing it seemed determined to think about.

Kurt was startled out of his revere by a soft knock on the door. He quickly sat up, glancing in the mirror to try to brush his hair back into some semblance of control, but it was hopeless. He thought about not answering the door, but the soft knock came again and he realized that whoever it was probably wasn't going away any time soon.

He groaned and forced himself to his feet. Hopefully he could get rid of the person on the other side quickly and get back to his self-indulgent moping. When he opened the door, however, he regretted it immediately.

"Blaine, you are the last person I want to talk to right now." Well, second to last, Kurt amended silently, thinking of a certain cocky bastard who had caused all this.

"I just want to talk," Blaine said gently. "I brought homemade rum chocolate soufflé." He held up the dish, and Kurt didn't doubt that Blaine had made it himself. The boy loved cooking, but he was sort of terrible at it. The soufflé looked more than a tad misshapen. "Can I come in?"

Kurt studied him for a few second more, and then walked back into his room wordlessly, leaving the door open for Blaine to follow. He had gone to the trouble of making Kurt's favorite desert, even if he appeared to have failed miserably. The least Kurt could do was hear him out. He heard the door click shut and a soft clink as Blaine set the plate on the desk.

"Can we talk about this thing with Luke?"

"I think I've heard more than enough about what things you and Luke have gotten up to." Kurt replied sharply.

"Fine, then can we talk about this thing with you and me?" Kurt looked over his shoulder at Blaine. He looked so forlorn standing there with his hands tucked into his pockets and his shoulders hunched forward a bit.

"What is there to talk about?"

"Well for starters, you could tell me why you're so mad at me." Kurt didn't say anything. "Why was it so important for you to ask me how many boyfriends I've had last night? You've known from the beginning that you weren't my first boyfriend, but it never seemed to matter until last night. What did Luke say to you?"

"He said that you had a lot of boyfriends because you just liked the chase," Kurt said. "That you weren't ever really attracted to them and you dumped them all after a few weeks."

"Well he was right." Kurt bit his lip, trying to hold back the tears he felt coming. He thought he had cried everything out of his system last night, but apparently not. "My relationships with them didn't last very long, and it was in large part because I wasn't really attracted to them, and I'm not one to just string people along when I know it's not going to work out." Blaine spoke so casually. He clearly didn't see where Kurt had been going with that. "I just dated them because, for a long time after Luke and I broke up, I felt like I always needed a boyfriend."

"Is that why you went after me? You'd just been single too long?"

"No. Kurt, I—"

"Then why are you dating me? We both know it's not because you're attracted to me, so why?" Kurt's voice cracked. He hated how he sounded right now. It was whiney and needy, and he wanted so badly to be suave and cool. He wanted to show Blaine what he was missing out on, how great he could be. He wanted so badly for Blaine want him.

"Kurt, why would you think I'm not attracted to you?"

"Because this isn't how you treat someone you're attracted to. We're teenagers, and apparently you didn't have any problem going all the way with Luke, so why the hell haven't we done more than kiss in the time it took you to have sex with your first boyfriend?" Blaine looked hurt, and Kurt was glad. He should feel bad about leading him on like this.

"Kurt, my relationship with Luke… It was… I mean, it wasn't… It's not how I want things to be with us."

"Right, well for someone who doesn't like stringing people along, you've taken a long time to tell me this."

"You're not understanding me Kurt. With Luke, it was all about the physical. Our entire relationship was based around sex, and there really was nothing more to it than that. I wasn't in love with him. I was attracted to him, sure, and for a long time I confused that attraction with love. I wanted to please him, so when he pressured me to go farther and farther with him, even though I knew I wasn't ready for that, I just went along with it. I had no idea that relationships were supposed to be any different than that. He kept telling me that it was one of the perks of being gay, never having your partner go all girly and refuse to sleep with you. And I just went along with it.

"I didn't say no to much, but when I finally did, Luke broke things off with me. I started dating other guys, but none of them lasted very long. Like I said before, I wasn't really attracted to them. I was just trying to be what I thought people wanted me to be. And, I'm not proud of this, but Luke and I kept hooking up for the rest of that year. I hated him for breaking up with me, and yet I kept going back to him, because it was all I could really think to do.

"I put an end to it once and for all a few weeks before he left for France, and once he was gone, I started to figure things out. I haven't dated anyone in all that time because I realized that I didn't want to be with someone just because I could or because I thought I should. I wanted to be with someone because I wanted him. And Kurt, I want to be with you." Kurt felt his heart swell with that statement. Blaine liked him. He wanted to be with him. But Kurt still didn't understand what Blaine's hold up was in the intimacy department.

"Then why don't you show it? I mean, I get that you don't want to go too fast again, but we've been going at a freaking snail's pace."

"I just didn't want to do to you what Luke did to me. I didn't want you too feel like you were being pushed into anything you were uncomfortable with, especially after what happened with Karofsky. You shouldn't ever be forced into something you don't want to do." Kurt stepped forward, closing the gap between. He reached for Blaine's hand, twining their fingers together loosely. Blaine squeezed his hand in response.

"Blaine, I appreciate the sentiment, but you are not Karofsky. I know you would never force anything on me. But guess what? We're dating. You can make a move and trust me to tell you if it's too much." Blaine sighed, placing his forehead against Kurt's and closing his eyes.

"Promise me you will? Promise me that you'll be honest and never let yourself do something you're uncomfortable with."

"I promise. And as long as I'm always being honest with you, I feel I should tell you something." Blaine pulled back, his face suddenly wary. "Blaine Anderson, I love you. And I want more than just a simple kiss goodnight."

Blaine stared for a moment. Then, with a suddenness that surprised Kurt, he leaned in, placing a passionate kiss on his lips. Kurt opened his mouth and the kiss deepened as their tongues began to explore each other's mouths. Blaine let the kiss go on for a few more moments, before reluctantly pulling away. He didn't want to stop kissing this gorgeous boy before him, but there was something important he needed to say.

"I love you too, Kurt."

* * *

Kurt tapped his student ID card against his palm, staring at the selections in the vending machine and trying to figure out what Blaine would like. For someone with such a fantastic body, Blaine had quite the sweet tooth. Kurt finally made his decision, swiping his ID card and punching in the code for the bag of licorice on the bottom row.

He quickly grabbed the bag of candy and made his way back to his room. When he got there, he found Blaine sitting exactly where he had left him, leaning up against the headboard of Kurt's bed. He had a remote in his hand and was flipping idly through channels on the TV. Kurt frowned at him.

"You put your shirt back on," he observed. Blaine offered a slightly apologetic shrug.

"It was cold." Kurt just raised an eyebrow in mock disapproval. Blaine flipped off the TV and grinned at him. "I guess if you want it back off, you'll just have to come over here and do it yourself."

Kurt tried to keep the look of disapproval on his face, but Blaine was just too cute, sitting there with his mused hair and debonair smile.

"Kind of bratty, aren't you? And here I was going to reward you for being such a good boy," he said, waving the bag of licorice out in front of him.

Blaine pushed himself forward, scooting to the end of the bed to let his legs hang off, but never loosing that charming smile. He reached towards the candy, and Kurt flipped it out of reach. Instead, Blaine grabbed hold of his arm, pulling Kurt close. There was barely an inch between them now, and Blaine whispered, "I already have my reward." He pulled Kurt's face to his, kissing him softly on the lips. The candy slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor, where it remained forgotten for the rest of the night.

* * *

**The End!**

**I'll let your minds fill in the blank for what happened next. (They played monopoly of course! Jeeze. Get your minds out of the gutter. ;) I hope you all enjoyed reading this story. I really enjoyed writing it for you. ^.^**

**Also, I'm kind of playing with the idea of writing a sort of prequel for this story about Blaine's past relationships. However, if nobody's interested in reading it, I think I'll just move on to the Supernatural fanfic I've been thinking about writing for a while now and the two Klaine crack!fics I've already started. Sound off in the reviews if you want to see a prequel though. If I get enough interest, I'll write it.**

**Now, for a sort of behind the scenes section that I'm guessing most of you don't particularly care about. But I feel like sharing, so here we go!**

**1. I have to admit, I typed "Logan" instead of "Luke" so many times when writing this fic. I haven't even read more than a few chapters of Dalton (It's just not my thing), but I've seen so much stuff for it on tumblr that somehow the names of all the characters have worked themselves into my head. XP**

**2. This story was insanely difficult to write. It wasn't because of the story though. It was because my computer has been acting crazy! My mouse keeps randomly clicking things, even when my hands are nowhere near the touchpad, which has resulted in me accidentally deleting entire sections of this fic at a time! Thank God for control+Z!**

**3. It took me about two days to whip out 20 pages of this story. It took me two weeks to write the remaining 5. (which was basically just me going back and editing what was already there, adding in a few scenes that I didn't feel like writing earlier, and trying to smooth out transitions between scenes) Usually I just write the story in chronological order, but this time, I hopped randomly from scene to scene in whatever order I wanted, so there was a lot to smooth out in the end to make it all flow together.**


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